Discretionary spending limited by Council after capital project cost overruns

The City Manager will have significantly less discretionary spending power as of January 1st, after Mayor and Council voted unanimously to amend its sustainable finance guidelines.

Prince George City Council asked the Finance and Audit Committee to review the guidelines on June 15th, after it was discovered a number of capital projects are costing more money than anticipated.

The new fire hall is over budget by about $2 million, and the George Street Parkade is over by $5 million. 

In a report to Council, the committee came back with two recommendations to limit the spending power held by the City Manager.

“Council and staff have been taking fine pencil to the direction that we want to go over the coming months and years,” said Councilor Garth Frizzell in the meeting, “There are some substantial changes that can be made.”

“We are wanting to have some more reporting back to Council, but not too much. We want to make sure that we aren’t getting reports back when we vary by the cost of a box of paper clips.”

If a capital project overrun is greater than five per cent of project cost to a maximum of $100,000 then it must be brought back to Council for approval.

It was also recommended unspent funds from a project be carried over to the new year.

“Comparative research was done with other communities, to see what was in line with them,” explained Director of Finance Kris Dalio.

Currently, Cumulative budget amendments in a calendar year of up to five percent of the total operating budget may be approved by the City Manager.

Originally, Council approval was not needed in order for the City Manager to approve budget amendments until this amount was surpassed.

After the vote, the unspent funds for an approved capital project may be carried forward to the following year’s Financial Plan, if the project has begun.

Unspent funds for projects that have not started will be brought to the attention of the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit.

Also at the meeting, former City Councilor Shirley Gratton was honored by Mayor Lyn Hall.

Gratton received the British Columbia Medal of Good Citizenship.

Council also heard a report from the Prince George Cougars on how the team has fared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kin Centres Arena Chiller system is also slated for an upgrade.